News Releases and Media Advisories
14 November 2011
Ottawa, Ontario - Entrepreneurs looking to increase the value of their businesses are now able to take advantage of a new skills building initiative offered through the Saint Mary’s University Business Development Centre. The High Growth Essentials program is designed to help drive innovation and increase the competitiveness of Atlantic Canadian businesses.
ldquo;Canadians have given our Government a strong mandate to stay focused on what matters to them – creating jobs and economic growth,” said the Honourable Bernard Valcourt, Minister of State for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA) and La Francophonie. “By investing in this training program, we are providing businesses with the tools needed to increase their productivity, expand into new markets, and create and support jobs here in Atlantic Canada.”
The High Growth Essentials program, which targets 135 CEOs and business owners, is being offered in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island. The program focuses on two components, mainly group training and one-on-one consultations.
High-growth firms have been recognized for some time as key drivers of employment growth in Canada. According to a Statistics Canada Survey on Financing of Small and Medium Enterprises, 2001, during the period of 1985-1999, high- growth companies created roughly 50% of all new jobs in Canada.
“The landscape of my business is rapidly changing and with it comes growing market share,” said Daina Hernden of PropertyGuys.com in Truro and East Hants. “The High Growth Essentials program helped me to set goals and hone in on my target market. I enjoyed the facilitator with real life business stories I could relate to and also the smaller group setting, sharing concepts with different businesses experiencing the same issues. I felt it was relevant enough to share with our entire group of Atlantic Canadian Franchisees.”
The group training component of the High Growth Essentials program is a series of information sessions and two-day workshops designed to help participants understand the key issues related to strategic, sustainable growth planning. The workshops focus on topics ranging from financial decision making, to human resources strategies, to using innovation as a catalyst for growth. The second component is a consulting program that will offer up to 50 hours of one-on-one consultation to a limited number of workshop participants. These participants will work with a consultant to develop a business growth action plan customized to their company’s needs. The plan will draw on the knowledge gained in the workshops and will be implemented over a three to six-month follow-up period.
Following two pilot sessions that were held in the greater Halifax area in May and June 2011, the High Growth Essentials program is being rolled out in the following locations:
• Yarmouth, Nova Scotia (November 17-18) • Moncton, New Brunswick (November 21-22) • Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island (November 23-24) • Saint John, New Brunswick (December 1-2) • Fredericton, New Brunswick (December 8-9)
The Government of Canada is investing $126,336 in the project through ACOA’s Business Development Program.
FOR BROADCAST USE:
A new training initiative designed to help Atlantic Canadian entrepreneurs innovate and improve their competitiveness is now being offered in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island.
The High Growth Essentials program, a new skills-building and support program, is designed to help entrepreneurs with strategic growth planning for their businesses. The program touches on topics such as financial decision making, human resource strategies and how to use innovation to grow.
ACOA Minister Bernard Valcourt announced funding today of more than $126,000 for the Saint Mary’s University Business Development Centre, which operates the High Growth Essentials program. Minister Valcourt said this investment supports the Government of Canada’s mandate to create jobs and economic growth.
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INFORMATION:
Andrea Richer
Press Secretary
Office of the Honourable Bernard Valcourt
613-790-3637
Kevin Dubé
Director of Communications, Client Services
ACOA Head Office
506-851-7632
Michael Sanderson
Manager, Skills Development and Training
Saint Mary’s University Business Development Centre
902-429-4547
